Green tea is the latest supplement that has the average dieter investing their hopes on a thinner, more slender body. The powerful anti-oxidant can lower blood sugar levels, curb cravings and restrict high blood cholesterol.
Past and present diet trends have encouraged waist line watchers to kick butt with Billy Blanks and master Tae Bo; abandon carbohydrates with Dr. Atkins; and envy Anna Nicole Smith while popping TrimSpa, baby. But, the fact still remains that 30% of Americans are obese.
While there is no prescription to cure the social stigma of obesity or being overweight, health services coordinator Sue Fitzgerald believes that green tea as a healthy tool makes sense physiologically.
“Green tea helps to slow the release of sugars and carbs into the blood stream, which regulates the peak of blood sugar levels. The less fluctuation in those levels, the healthier the body,” Fitzgerald said. “But, does green tea impact the whole body enough for major weight loss?”
Green tea is made from the ancient plant Camellia Sinensis and has been part of the Chinese diet for three thousand years. The liquid shrub helps the body to break down carbohydrates faster and boost metabolism. Unlike popular diet pills like Xenadrine, green tea doesn’t speed up heart rates leaving the body more prone to consistency in keeping the weight off.
Kay Zwolak, Cabrini Junior, works in the Dixon Center and sees firsthand how students have been pouring into the gym attempting to get ready for bikini season by working out and even practicing yoga.
“I think it’s interesting how the Western approach to well-being and beauty is realizing older philosophies, like inner harmony, and turning them into better ways for young people to look at themselves,” Zwolak said. “It’s healthy even if it doesn’t make you lose 20 lbs.”
With an average dose of one cup of green tea or one capsule with each meal the bodily production of noradrenaline, the hormone responsible for calorie burning, increases. Green tea intake combined with a workout regiment, like one that could be planned with Activetrax at the Dixon Center, could do wonders for the body.
“Weight isn’t gained over night so it won’t come off overnight,” Fitzgerald said. “The best way to lose weight is to watch what you eat and exercise a minimum of three times per week.”
On top of weight-loss aid, benefits of the oriental anti-oxidant also include increased alertness, an alternative to unnatural prescription drugs such as adderol, lowered risk in disease, like lung Cancer and breast Cancer, and even works against bad breath and skin aging.
Since drinking the ancient herb obviously isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea” it is also available in tablet form. All forms of green tea can be purchased at any major drug store or pharmacy, such as GNC or CVS.
Posted to the web by Shane Evans
